Puzzle.



F. w. DOLL.

PUZZLE.`

APPLIUATION FILED APR. 30,'1914.

1, 1 14, 1 25. Patented Oct. 20, 1914.

GATO/V LAKE l /N VENTOR w/TNEssEs @MJACA-M. I f' ATTORNEY UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

FRED W. DOLL, OF ALLEN'IOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF '.IOI A.H. BALLIET, OF ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

PUZZLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 20, 1914.

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that I, FRED WV. DOLL, a citizenof the United States, residing at l11126 Liberty street, Allentown, inthe county of Lehigh and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certainnew and useful Puzzle, of which the following is a. specification.

My invention relates `to a 'type of puz zles in which a certain pathmust be followed by a quantity of mercury, either as a unit or invariously divided portions, and in which certain requirements must bemet as to the position of the mercury at certain parts of the journey.It adopts a configuration likened to the Panama Canal and variousrelated lakes and passages and requires transmission of a quantity ofmercury from a pool or compartment at one side of the puzzle, indicatedas the Atlantic Ocean, to a pool or compartment upon the other side,indicated as the Pacific, or vice versa.

The purposes of my invention are to pro-- ject the walls about theterminals of the canal out into the respective oceans, so as to requirethat the mercury be `admitted to them in finely divided parts, to placeopposing walls conveniently near to the canal terminals so that themercury may be split up by impact with these opposing walls and causedto rebound into the terminals, to establish a relation between the totalquantity of mercury and the ,capacities of cerf tain pools between theoceans, called lakes,

here located on opposite sides of the general line off the canal and tohave the sections of the passagev near to the entrances to and exitsfrom the lakes slope. somewhat in the direction from which the mercuryto fill them is supposed to be brought.

I have preferred to illustrate my invenf tion by but one form thereofwhich presents the principles of my invention to the best advantage.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the preferred form of my invention. Fig.2 is a section taken upon line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Similar numerals of reference indicate like parts in the drawing.

the Atlantic, 2 the Pacific and 3 the isthmus of land lying between, inthe innnediate vicinity of the canal. V

4 is an island in the Atlantic, causing interference with the path ofthe mercury.

The terminal 5, affording an entrance to4 the passageway or canal 7 6 ismade within a projection or cape 7 of the land which is made convex inorder that no considerable quantity of mercury may be balanced at theentrance but that, instead, the mercury may roll around the lpoint ofthe cape or be cut in two by it without starting within the en` trance5.

The canal '6 follows a tortuous path and comprises a number of sectionsof which the first, 8, leads past the Gatun Locks and a blind inlet 9,entering the pool or lake 10, marked Gratun Lake, at 11. Under the rulesof the puzzle the Gatun Lake, upon one side of the canal, is to befilled with mercury as the mercury is moved from the Atlantic toward thePacific, and certainv other lakes on the opposite side ofthe canalare tobe `filledduring the reverse movement of the mercury.` With this in mindthere is some advantage obtained by having the final part of thissection 8 slope generally from the Atlantic toward the lake.

The Gatun Lake is intended to have a capacity approximately equal to theentire quantity of mercury contained in the puzzle.

From Gatun Lake the mercury is intended to go through opening 12 intothe section 13 of the canal, which slopes also generally towardtheterminal 5, from which the mercury is now coming. From a point 14: an

inlet 15 leads to pool or lake 16 through opening 17. The vcanalcontinues from the point 14 along section 18 of the canal past a blindinlet 19. From thepoint `20 an inlet 21 .leads lto a pool or lake 22.The mercury is sufficient.;l in quantity to fill or approximately llboth lakes 16 and 22, and it will be noted that the greater part of eachof the inlets leading into these lakes slopes generally fromthe Pacificentrance toward these lakes, as they are to` be lled by mercury comingfrom the Pacific. The canal continues from point 20 through section 23to the Pacific which it enters through terminal 24 in a projecting`piece of land 25 which is also likened to a cape. This presents the l ysame difliculty to mercury entrance present- The numeral 1 representsthe pool named ed by the cape entrance on the Atlantic side. In orderthat the mercury may be split up readily Vand make to rebound againstthe coast near the two canal terminals, I form the outerAtlantic andPacic boundaries appropriately at 26 and 27, opposite to the two capesand near enough to themfor the purpose. The problem is, with theconditionsv attached, to feed vall of the mei'cury from the Atlantictothe Pacific and then back again.

' In order that the puzzle may be presented in practical shape, it isput in the form of a box, which I .have shown as having a back 28, ends29, which form the walls 26 and 27, and sides 80. The top is closed by aglass cover 3l.

" The fillingmaterial in the puzzle forming the isthmus 3, is intendedto occupy all of the space from the back of the box to the glassrinorder to avoid passage of the mercury by anyrother route than that whichhas been indicated.

' It will be observed that the projection of 'the terminals of thepassage into the oceans prevents cornering the mercury about eitherterminals and getting it started through in a body, which could be doneif the terminals were in an indented or coved portion of ythe coast.With the'construction shown, the

effect of the projecting portions of land at 7 and 25' is to divide anyconsiderable body of mercury brought against them, so that none of themercury enters and to require the splitting up of the mercury into smallglobules, ordinarily by shaking the puzzle, before any of it can be madeto enter either of the terminals 5 and 24. Unless constrained by lsidewalls the 'contour` of any body of mercury will be circular. Partly :forthis reason, even when but a small part of the mercury is left in eitherocean7 this small part, unless it be of diameter substantially equalingVthe width of the terminals or mouths, or smaller, must be broken up intosmaller globules before it will enter the canal.

It will be seen that the lakes to be filled lie at some distance to oneside or the other of the line joining the terminals '5 and 24, and ofthegeneral line of the passage from coast to coast, permitting. someshaking of the mercury in either direction without jarring the mercuryfar enough out of the lake or lakes to be lled to cause this mercury toenter the-continuation of the canal toward the coast inl whose directionthe mercury is being led.

It will be evident that the purposes of my invention do not require thatthe so-calledl canal pass trom one large pool tofanother,

but are, many of them, attained where but a I relatively large pools, abody of mercury to the spacing body communicating with the passage, andlying a considerable distance to one'side of a line joining the pointsof communication oi' the passage with the two large pools.

2. In game apparatus, a pool representing water, a material bounding thesame representing land and having a canal through a portion of the landcommunicating with the poolthrough a small opening, a projecting landportion causing the canal terminal to project into the pool, the coastoutlined being there convex and a quantity of mercury intended to bepassed into said canal.

3. In game apparatus, a pair of spaced pools representing water, avolume of mercury in one of said pools and a spacing materialrepresenting land projecting outwardly into each pool having a canaltherethrough communicating with each pool through the land projectiontherein and a smaller pool between the large pools communicating withthe canal and corresponding substantially in capacity to the volume ofmercury.

l. In game apparatus, a pair of spaced pools representing water, mercuryin one of said pools and spacing material between the pools having apassage therebetween torming a co-inmunication between the pools andhaving storage space on each side of a line between the terminals of thepassage representing lakes and corresponding substantially to thequantity of mercury used and communicating with the passage.

5. In game apparatus, a pair of spaced pools representing the Atlanticand Paciiic Oceans, a spacing material between representing an istlimusand having a passage through it from ocean to ocean to represent thePanama Canal with spaces conilnunieating with the passage representinglakes located on opposite sides of the canal and a volume of'mereurysubstantially corresponding in size to the content of one of theselakes.

6. In game apparatus, a pair of spaced pools representing the Atlanticand Pacific Oceans, a volume of mercury in one of the pools and aspacing material between representing an isthinus and having a passagethrough it from ocean to ocean to represent the Panama Canal with spacescommunicating with the passage representing lakes located on oppositesides of the canal and providing storage for substantially all of themercury upon each side of the passage.

7. In a gaine apparatus, a pair of spaced pools corresponding to theAtlantic and Paciic Oceans, and aspaeing material corresponding t'o theIsthmus of Panama projecting into both oceans in cape like formation andhaving a canal through the isthmus terminating in the capes incombination With a considerable quantity of mercury `to be passedthrough the canal.

8. In game apparatus, a pool adapted to contain mercury and a boundarymaterial therefor projecting into the pool incape like formation andhaving a passage through the cape communicating With the pool sub'-stantially at the end of the cape and having a narrow opening incombination With a body of mercury 'in the pool greatly in excess indiameter of the size of the passage opening.

9. In game apparatus, a pool adapted to contain mercury and a boundarymaterial therefor projecting into the pool in cape like formation andhaving a passage throu h the cape communicating with the pool sustantially at the end of the cape and having a y narrow opening incombination With a second boundary across the opening and in proximitythereto and a body of mercury in the pool greatly in excess in diameterof the size ofthe passage opening.

' F RED W. DOLL. Witnesses:

CHAs. S. FREDERICK, STANLEY C. FREDERICK.

Copies of this patient may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe i Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

